Kerr County seeking new crisis volunteers

Kerr County is scheduled to host a Kerr County Emergency Response Team (CERT) recruiting event on Saturday, January 22 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office Training Room, located at 400 Clearwater Paseo. Current CERT members and squad leaders will be on hand to provide details about CERT training, as well as possible tasks members may be expected to perform.

CERT members are the are the first to arrive and provide assistance to their neighbors in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, along with providing initial damage assessments during triage by emergency forces prior to their arrival. CERT volunteers may also be called upon to tackle the logistics of organizing other volunteers or the distribution of food, water and emergency resources.

“Disaster response and recovery efforts require more helping hands than just those provided by our uniformed officers, firefighters and EMS personnel,” according to Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator Dub Thomas. Thomas added that the goal for the upcoming event is to have enough members on hand to aid county residents the next time an emergency situation arises.

The actual training will cover: disaster preparedness, fire safety and utility controls, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue operations, CERT organization, disaster psychology, terrorism and more. Requirements to become a CERT member include: candidates must be at least eighteen years of age, have no criminal history and must successfully complete the CERT Basic Training Course, scheduled for February 18-20.

“Are you calm under pressure? Do you want to help those in need and feel that you can handle being the first boots on the ground to help your neighbors?” If so, Thomas encourages residents to attend the upcoming seminar.

Applications are available at www.co.kerr.tx.us/sheriff/cert. For more information or questions call (830) 896-1216 during regular business hours.